Drinking black tea may benefit weight loss

A new study, partly funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the European Journal of Nutrition, reported that decaffeinated black tea "alters energy metabolism in the liver by changing gut metabolites." For mice ingesting it, intestinal changes were identified where "bacteria associated with lean body mass increased." In the experiment four groups of mice placed on different diets: low-fat, high-sugar (LF/HS); high-fat, high-sugar (HF/HS); high-fat, high-sugar and green tea polyphenols (HF/HS-GTP); and high-fat, high-sugar and black tea polyphenols (HF/HS-BTP). Researchers concluded that "the weights of the mice that were given green or black tea extracts dropped to the same levels as those of the mice that received the low-fat diet throughout the study."

“Our new findings suggest that black tea, through a specific mechanism through the gut microbiome, may also contribute to good health and weight loss in humans,” said lead author Susanne Henning, an adjunct professor at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. “The results suggest that both green and black teas are prebiotics, substances that induce the growth of good microorganisms that contribute to a person’s well-being.”

The researcher from UCLA wrote about the bone density benefits of black tea when the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study in late 2015, which prompted us to write that the news suggested "drinking three cups of tea per day may cut down on the risk of fragile bones among the elderly, as well as reduce the risk of illnesses such as cancer and heart disease."

https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/10/04/weight-loss-aided-black-tea-study-suggests-11916